No Ordinary Apocalypse
by Alley789
Summary: The zombie apocalypse is no "new news" in fact I've been surviving the apocalypse for three years now and I'm starting to realize that it isn't much of an apocalypse at all. I was one of the teens who obsessed over the fake TV dramas such as The Walking Dead. The shows that depicted the dead rising. Those shows have long been banned. Once the SHTF our governments thought depictions
1. Chapter 1

The zombie apocalypse is no "new news" in fact I've been surviving the apocalypse for three years now and I'm starting to realize that it isn't much of an apocalypse at all.

I was one of the teens who obsessed over the fake TV dramas such as The Walking Dead. The shows that depicted the dead rising. Those shows have long been banned. Once the SHTF our governments thought depictions of our new found enemy were very inappropriate to the human audience they appealed to. Those depictions were a load of bull anyway. Our apocalypse is casual restraint, new enforced laws regarding nonsense, and Paul Wesson, our big time dictator, refusing to deal with any of the crap going on as if it were beneath him.

Massive walls were built around major cities over night to prevent the restless from mowing down on fresh city slickers. The walls, I'm told, are about five feet wide and stories tall; when this all broke out I was in Toronto visiting our neighbouring new church community on a Teen weekend set up by the church board. My home is back in the smaller city of Kitchener, my home with my two parents and loving pet waiting, hoping that one day I will return.

That's right; I haven't seen my parents in three years. _No one_ is permitted access past the wall. I am told there are four gates located in the wall. Each gate opens in an exact direction of north, south, east, or west. I currently have set up residence in a four story apartment building with two of my friends.

So, I kind of lied when I said _no one_ is permitted access through those gates. The Slayers Guild, the coolest, most envied, best trained, amazingly skilled people in all of well, everywhere. They are the men and women, boys and girls we trust to protect our walls. Part of their job is to travel between walled cities either for protection transfer or for the occasional privilege of visiting family members; however the second option is kept on the down low. It is only a privilege given to the highest ranking slayers, a privilege most citizens don't even know about. I guess you could say it's kind of a dream of mine to become a part of the Slayers Guild, and today is my chance!

"Arillia, are you awake yet?'

"Yeah, of course I am, I barely slept all night." I answered. It was true, the anticipation was killing me! My dream could come true today and I would be one step closer to reuniting with my family.

"Do you feel ready?"

"Are you kidding me Janie. I feel so ready, and yet I'm nervous as hell about forgetting everything I know." A humourless laugh left me.

"Well, believe me, you are going to kill at this exam!"

"Only ten people will be accepted into the guild. For some people this will be their second or third time applying, for me, it's only my first. My chances are looking slim."

"Shut up! You'll do fine. Are you gonna eat that?" Janie asked, pointing at my half eaten sandwich. I shook my head and pushed my plate in front of her.

"Go ahead."

It was eight o'clock in the morning and my exam started at nine o'clock. I had an hour to drive there and get situated.

I looked in the mirror. I was surprised when I saw my hair was still intact after running my nervous hands through it a million times. My brown hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail; there was no way I was allowing a blind spot during my exam. I wore a black V-neck t-shirt, black skinny jeans and black combat boots. I'm a colourful person.

My eyes travelled to my neck, the reflection captured the life-like essence of my most prized possession; the necklace that dangled perfectly around my neck resting against my collarbone. An angel wing, meaningful and precise, yet a constant reminder of what I'm not.

I fastened my belt around my waist and collected my jacket –black of course—and purse, loading up my car, well not my car, my friend's, the friend that is most likely still asleep.

Running back inside I was greeted by a disoriented, tired face staring back at me.

"I'm so sorry, my alarm—"

"Didn't go off? Let me guess you set it for PM and instead of AM?" Scarlet giggled, her fatigued grin gathering large bags under her eyes.

"You know me so well."

"Go get ready."

"Hell no! Ain't nobody got time for that! We gotta go now."

"Okay then hurry up!" I, with a half awake blob at my side, filed into the car after a brief argument about who was more capable of driving momentarily, I took the driver's seat, plugged the key into the ignition and the car roared to life.

We travelled down the road hitting every blasted red light one could imagine, and beyond, until I parked the car between the yellow parking lines and killed the engine. I opened the car door, and to my surprise the same action was mimicked by my partner in crime, the wooky emerged groaning at the natural sunlight.

"You're coming in?"

"Well, of course!" I let out a laugh as her hair flopped up and down in front of her face while her head nodded violently.

"Suite yourself." We entered the large building, there were three rooms discluding the one we were in. The first room on the right was entitled TRAINING ROOM, the one in the middle EXAMINATION ARENA, and the one on the left WRTITING HALL. However, this came as no surprise to me, I had studied the inside of this facility a thousand times, I could tell you every detail about what is behind door number one, two and three.

The woman at the desk in front of us, looked up from her keyboard, yet continued to type, the keys echoing through the bare foyer.

"Here for examination." She said, seeming to state rather than ask. She pointed to the room on the right and we made our way inside.

Rows of chair lined the back wall in a stadium-like manner, in the front was a large cabinet and centered in the middle of the stage was a tall desk, just as I remembered it. To my surprise, we were the first ones here. Almost right on cue:

"Looks like we're the first here, enjoy being on time 'cuz this is the first and last time you will ever be punctual." I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"If I recall this morning correctly, you were the one that wasn't on time." Scarlet ignored me, taking in the size of the room

About ten minutes later others began to file into the room. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of ages from 40 to 16. Each person wanted a shot at their destiny. I let out a deep sigh as the anxiety began to sink in.

"Relax. You're gonna make it through, I'm positive you know this place and procedure 105 times better than anyone else here."

"Only 105?" I tried to smile but my humour lacked confidence. Scarlet ignored me and closed her eyes as she reclined in her chair.

I checked the time on my phone; 8:52am. My hands, being as shaky as they were, my phone fell out onto the floor beneath the chair in front of me. Before I even had a chance to ask, the occupier of the seat bent down and reached for my phone. He turned around in his seat and smiled. I swear my breathe caught and a wonderful rush of natural, musky sour scent secured a place in my greedy lungs.

"This yours?' His voice! So deep and raspy. I felt my face begin to flush as I reached for an answer.

"Yeah, thanks." I reached for my phone, my fingertips brushing against his warm hand.

"Nice screen saver!" He chuckled. My stomach swooped. I could swear I was on a rollercoaster because the motion kept repeating. Then suddenly a picture of my screensaver appeared in my head, my friends and I making the most ridiculous faces toward the camera. THE HUMILIATION! Somehow a laugh escaped my but the colour remained in my cheeks, heating. He turned back around but his flawless face remained in my mind. His dark eyelashes framing his dark green eyes, his sharp, manly facial structure and his dark brown hair—so dark almost black—the way it hung into his face.

"HAW-TEE!" Scarlet said, not nearly quiet enough.

"But since when do you lack the words to flirt?"

"Shut up." My eyes still glued on the back of his head, and his broad shoulders that peeked out around the back of the chair.

"He seems your type." Scarlet elbowed me encouragingly.

"Stop it." I said, beyond aware that he could hear us.

"Looks who's playing shy!" I unlocked my phone and changed my screensaver to the album cover of Three Days Grace, and checked the time; 9:01am. I was interrupted by a loud voice originating from the front of the room on the stage. A decent looking male stood behind the tall desk.

"Good morning everyone, thank you all for joining us today. All of you came here today with a common goal but, hate to be the bearer of bad news, not all of you will meet your goals, in fact, most of you will fail and not be accepted into the guild."

"Harsh." Scarlet took the pause in dialect to insert her own.

"However, some of you _will_ be accepted into the guild. Those of you who display exceptional skill, natural talent, and unrelenting dedication during exams, will be the ones to achieve their goals. Now, enough of the pep talk and on to more concerning matters."

"That was a pep talk?"

"This year, your odds of achieving your goals have increased. Instead of only accepting ten slayers, we will be looking for a total of 15." In the crowd I could hear people murmuring about the shocking news.

"Scarlet! Please? You helped me study for these exams a million times, you know the material just as well as me. You could make it in for sure if you wanted it bad enough." Her face was serious as she contemplated the offer that just arrived. She looked at me with unsure eyes. I lifted an eyebrow to prompt her answer.

"So?"

"Why the hell not?" She exclaimed. I was excited I wouldn't be doing this alone, I always had her at my side and frankly, we were a pretty awesome team! The man in the center of the room continued.

"We will run you through a series of tests that will allow you to display your talent, or lack thereof. In total you will run three physical tests and one written. The first physical will be strictly about your health, particularly about your heart, lungs and brain patterns. The second will be about your mental and physical knowledge of weapons. And the third test will be on mental and physical relations regarding who to trust or reject and leave behind. So good luck."

After the brief introduction, we filed into the next room, the EXAMINATION ARENA Block 1. Block 1 was the health examination. There were seven different private offices located on the far wall, across from them were rows of seating where we were waiting for our check-up.

"Number 17." Was called by a woman peering around a wall that provided privacy for those inside the small office. I rose from my seat. Looking back at Scarlet, I saw her moth the words 'good luck' and made my way toward the office.

"Hi there Hun, can I ask your name just so we can get you on record?"

"Arillia."

"very good. And your last name?"

"Tate."

"Great. Now, can I get you to just stand on the scale right over here." I nodded and complied.

"So the average weight for a female your age is 118 pounds."

"How do you know how old I am?"

"Observant girl I see. I typed your first and last name into my computer and every government, educational, and medical document popped up. I saw your age is 16."

"The scale says I am 120 pounds."

"Perfect, just as I suspected, you are slightly taller than the average female your age so that is the perfect weight." I stepped off the scale as I watched her plug in my stats into her computer. She ran a few more exams and then told me I could go back to the waiting room and return to my seat.

As I walked out of the office I noticed a familiar face belonging to the body sitting contently in my chair. Walking over I admired his exceptional skin tone and thick muscles that were perfectly on display, not too covered by his black T-shirt.

"Hey I see we meet again." Cole said grinning at me.

"Huh, funny how that works hey?" He raised his eyebrows at me and gave me another slight smirk.

"I'm Cole." He extended his hand out to me remaining in his seat, or shall I say _my_ seat.

"That's nice." I was about to tell him to get out of my seat, but the look on his face caught me off guard.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to be so feisty." He folded his hands together, resting his hands on his abdomen as he leaned back into my chair. I faked a sarcastic smile and raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, are you thinking of removing yourself from my seat anytime soon?"

"Naw, I have a much better view from over here, thanks for asking."

"Better view of what?" I spat the last 't' beginning to get annoyed at his continuous comments even if her was attractive.

"You."

"Charming, now move." I was impressed by my ability to stay strong even as his words melted my organs into a hot pastry filling inside me. He remained where he was, seeming unaffected by my words.

"What's your name?"

"If you were the observant type, you would have seen before you sat down, that my name tag is one the back of the chair, making that chair what you might call mine for the time being." He stood from sitting coming face to face with me. Gesturing behind him he spoke.

"I see no such thing." Sure enough the name tag had been removed. I bit my bottom lip refraining from making eye contact. I took the opportunity provided by the empty seat behind him and tried to make my way around the wall of the rock hard muscle barrier that stood between me and my destination.

"Where are you going?" He asked, stepping in the way of my path preventing me from moving toward my goal. I looked up into his gorgeous green eyes encased by a dark lining of eyelashes.

"Get out of my way." I clearly couldn't manage to say it forcefully enough because he remained right where he was.

"Cole, move." I attempted again. He allowed a smile across his flawless face and spoke in his raspy voice.

He stepped out of the way and I brushed past him claiming my seat.

"Number 21." Cole winked then set off toward the room.

This whole time, Scarlet had been sitting beside me in her seat watching this thing go down.

"Yup, definitely your type."

"Shut up." I said sarcastically as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. It was 11:23am, this was seeming to take forever. Almost as if right on cue, the big television screen mounted on the wall in front of us, sported names of all those who had passed the health examination. Luckily for me, I was one of them; Scarlet too.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, I had convinced Scarlet to try out for the slayers guild too since now they were taking in 15 of the applicants instead of just the ten. An announcement rang through the speakers, ordering us who passed to move into block 2 where the physical exam regarding knowledge of weapons, was to be issued.

Each applicant found themselves in a block-like cell on their own. A door was placed in front, that would automatically open as soon as the test began. I could hear a countdown begin through the earpiece I wore and I sighed as stress began to claim its spot in the pit of my stomach.

"3, 2, 1." The automated voice said. Then words appeared on the screen above the door. The words, I had been told, described the situation we were entering into.

You are making a trek from one walled city to the next one located three miles away. Choose only five items to take with you, then, place them in your backpack.

You have 25 seconds.

The door in front of me opened. I saw three shelves of supplies in front of me; one food shelf, one weapon shelf and the other a miscellaneous supply shelf. I bolted forward remembering what my father had once taught me grabbing a water bottle from the food shelf and placing it in my open backpack I held in my hand. The clock above the next door I was to enter into read 19 seconds. I moved to the weapons shelf, grabbing the Ruger 10/22 Takedown, a gun my father once owned and taught me about. I then reached for a sturdy fixed blade encased in its sheath. I swung the gun strap over my shoulder and clipped the blade to my belt. 12 seconds. I ran to the miscellaneous shelf taking a box of ammunition labelled .22mm and a spool of paracord placing them in my backpack and zipping it up. 2 seconds. 1 second. The buzzer on the clock sounded and metal doors dropped in front of the shelves. The door in front of me opened and I advanced into the small room, not unlike the room I originally started in. I fastened the backpack over my shoulders as I waited for the countdown to begin.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The next set of instructions were displayed on a similar screen.

You are now outside the protection of the walls and two zombies advance toward you. Take them down.

You have 10 seconds.

The doors opened and I emerged from the room, palming my gun. I looked around the room, there were several objects scattered around such as a coffee table, a couch a glass wall… and behind the glass wall was the movement of my target. But before I could shoot that one, another pounced on my back, knocking me down. I grabbed the thick blade form my belt and drove the sharp point straight through the eye of the rotting flesh on top of me.

The sound must have startled the other because it came charging out from behind the glass wall. I straightened my hold on the gun, raised the barrel and the metallic bullet lodged itself in the head of the once moving zombie. And just in time, the alarm sounded and I jumped to my feet and through the door I walked into the tiny room.

The room contained a shelf to the right. There were a few supplies situated on top: a pistol with three bullets in the clip, a crowbar, a lock pick and a locked safe.

"3, 2, 1." Instructions appeared on the screen for the last time.

You will see supplies located to your right. Pick up the pistol and insert the clip. Place your backpack and all other items on the floor beneath the shelf. Now, you may choose either to take the lock pick and safe which contains something useful to you outside this room, or you can take the crowbar and have an extra five seconds added to your time. Select what you rather by pressing one option on the touch screen above the shelf.

I pressed the option that involved the crowbar instead of the lock pick and safe, considering I had no idea how to use a lock pick.

You have 100 seconds.

The door in front of me opened as I fastened the crowbar onto my belt. I removed the safety on the gun and inserted a bullet into the chamber, stepping outside of the room. This was the last physical weapons test all I had to do was get through this and I was one step closer to becoming a slayer.

Outside of the room was a green forest. I made my way through the first few trees and them spotted a fast approaching zombie. I raised my gun, lined it up and shot. I continued now, running but keeping alert and aware of my surroundings. Another zombie coming my way. Another shot fired. Another zombie. Another bullet. I was out of ammunition. I dropped my gun and collected the crowbar from my belt.

I arrived at a locked door. Placing the metal in the door, I pulled. I spotted the illuminated clock above the door that spat at me 32 seconds left. I put my feet against the wall and pushed my weight until I heard a subtle creak. I was getting somewhere! It was working. Behind me I heard a mumbling groan I turned around and ducked as the zombie crashed into the door. I reached for the crowbar and yanked, but the impact of the zombie to the door made me lose progress and got my crowbar stuck.

The zombie quickly regained itself and rose reaching for me. I kicked it back with my foot and tried again for the crowbar. 23 seconds. The crowbar finally came loose and with it the door. The zombie came at me with full force, opening its toxic mouth to take a bite of my living flesh. Envious I`m sure. I locked my arms against the persistent zombie on top of me, trying to push it off. But I was weak and the zombie had at least 20 pounds on me. I punched it in the face with one of my fists. Bad idea. It thrashed with more force and I lost my grip. We were now face to face and the stench of dried blood and death seeped out of its mouth and onto my face in a puddle of drool.

7 seconds. CRAP! Suddenly a random burst of strength shot from a root of determination and the zombie fell to the side long enough for me to stand on my feet. 2 seconds. I opened the door enough for only _my_ body to slip inside and slammed it behind me. The alarm buzzed and the door to the exit opened and I exited, wiping the toxic drool from my face.

I saw other occupant emerge from their exams panting, bleeding, muddy and fatigued. I couldn`t help but wonder if I looked anything like them. I followed along with the crowd wondering, looking, sorting through each individual for Scarlet, but there were lots of people and my mind was overtaken by one thought, did I pass? We swarmed around the score boards. Above the board was a large sign that stated the minimum score to pass was a 65. I filed my way through the crowd, pushing an even elbowing my way to the front, to check my score from the previous exam. Arillia Tate—score 87—pass. I breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the way of others and off to the side where I met up with Scarlet, surely over here to escape the masses of people as well.

"So? How did you do?" She asked softly. I smiled, giving the answer away right away.

"I passed. How about you?"

"Believe it or not, I did too."

We did the girly jump and squeal thing in excitement and celebration of making it this far. Another announcement came over the large speakers in the ceiling. We placed our ear pieces in the bin and did as the announcer told us and filed into block 3, our final physical exam.


	3. Chapter 3

Each person was sorted alphabetically, so of course I and Scarlet weren't in the same group. Each first name a-c, d-f, g-I and so on. There were five other people in my group; two girls and three guys. Cole, Braxton, and Aleks, and the girls were Amy and Betty Lou. Of course I was stuck with Cole. Curse you universe! Each group made their way into a small room where they would receive instructions. On the screen appeared just that.

Welcome to your final test! You will now choose who to trust and work with, or reject and leave behind. Your goal is simply to make it to the finish line unharmed. We encourage that you collect items and supplies along the way.

You have 1 hour to complete you final physical exam.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 START."

The door in front of us opened and the team and I emerged. No. Not my team, I decided that I would do this alone and fly solo. I started to make my way down the hall at a running pace.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Aleks shouted after me.

"I'm gonna do this one on my own, sorry guys." I could see Cole smile as I turned back around and continued running. I heard my team complain about how selfish I am. But I didn't come here to make friends. The words barely fazed me. Over top of the talking was the thud of boots under control of Cole's feet as he came toward me. I looked over my shoulder but continued running. To no surprise he caught up to me fairly quickly.

"I'm not sure if you heard, but I said I was doing this alone."

"Oh, me too, this hall just happens to be one way." He said matter-of-factly, but how come I didn't believe him? I rolled my eyes and ignored his presence.

There was a second direction, a hall branching off the main hall. I took my chances and along with them, took the first exit I could find away from Cole. But sure enough, her followed. There was a door at the end of this hall, I figured I would go see if it was locked and try to find some supplies inside. Right now I was defenseless against the walking dead. If they wanted to reap my flesh, they could no problem. The door was unlocked. I stepped inside looking for signs of danger before I was in too deep. All clear. I began looking around the room. It appeared to be an old classroom. Desks and chairs were tipped over and scattered carelessly across the otherwise empty room, sand papers with simple math equations decorated the floor. I assumed it was an old math room. I started to leave hoping to find an old science room where I could pilfer chemicals and dangerous equipment. Cole followed me out of the room.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I realized the same thing as you after seeing the math equations on those sheets, a math room won't have any useful supplies."

"You were watching me pretty closely huh?" I said, more accusing than anything. I was starting to get sick of him fallowing me around like a lost puppy. In the real world, I'm flattered when guys take a liking to me, but when I go into mission mode, oh boy, you better look out. Cole chuckled at my comment but he didn't look fazed, in fact he seemed amused, at least just from a quick glance I stole, I wasn't watching him that close, I swear!

"Okay." I paused. Cole then stopped and gave me a questioning look. "If we are gonna work together, we might as well do it right."

"In other words, if you're gonna have to put up with me, you might as well benefit from it too? You may find I surprise you."

"Yes…to the first part, exactly. I'm Arillia."

"I know," He said pulling out my crumpled up name tag that used to exist on my seat. I rolled my eyes but continued firmly.

"Here's what we do first. We are basically helpless without weapons. I figure we try to find a science classroom and gather some ingredients to try to make a-"

"Molotov cocktail? Exactly what I was thinking. After that we look for anything that can pierce through ha rotting head." Finishing my sentence certainly caught me off guard and I'm sure my expression showed it, if that lacked the pathetic look of surprise, the lull in conversation certainly expressed my thoughts concerning his unexpected reply. I felt my face heating. Thankfully he continued with a smug look.

We continued until we found another door. It appeared to be exactly what we were looking for, a science lab. However, most of the glass beakers had been smashed on the floor, and bottles and jars were strewn across the room, unknown liquids spilled and combining on the floor tile.

"Careful where you step." To anyone else, I would have thanked them for the heads up, Cole, I barely thought twice about it. I was careful where I stepped though as I searched through cupboards and shelves to find useful chemicals. Cole checked the fridge, conveniently still plugged in and generating cool air.

"I found some rubbing alcohol and a box of matches."

"Good, try to find some paper towel or a rag and some glass beakers that aren't smashed." I reluctantly followed orders, finding six intact bottles and roll of paper towel. I set out items on the counter in a pile. Cole brought a young girls pink hello kitty back pack and some beaker plugs, and began filling it with the items we had collected.

"The backpack is very you. It goes well with your eyes." I teased. He looked up at me and stopped packing.

"You like my eyes?" He smiled.

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself." I smiled and helped load the bag.

"Here, as much as it goes with my eyes, I think personally, it would look better on you." I agreed and once he zipped it up I swung it over my shoulder.

"Let's see if we can find a way out of this building."

"The classroom right across the hall, through the door I saw a door earlier. We could try that."

"Good thinking, hot and smart."

"Will you give it a rest!" I pleaded, but all I got for an answer was a beautiful smile flashed in my direction. WE crossed the hall and made our way out of the window with ease.

"Next let's find a car and try to pilfer some gas from the tank."

"Okay over there."

"You-"

"Don't say it, I really just don't care."

"You're cute." I rolled my eyes and followed him to the car. We got a significant amount of gasoline and filled the beakers right there on the pavement, making sure to stay alert. Once the cocktails were made we plugged the tops with some plugs and put the glass in the bag.

"Forty minutes." Echoed from the speaker on the school building.

"Over there," I pointed "Let's take those bikes, it will be faster to travel."

"I got a better idea." We walked toward a street bike. Cole mounted first.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?"

"There's no way in hell I'm getting on that thing with you."

"Look, it will get us there faster. We follow the paved road south east and at some point we will find the finish line."

"No." I insisted, backing away from the bike I recognize as a Kawasaki Ninja, a street bike I myself once wanted.

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you. Get on the bike."

"I said NO!" Cole swung his lag over the side of the bike so he was standing right in front of me.

"We are wasting time arguing. Hurry up and get on." I could feel his words against my face.

"No, I don't trust you, how do I even know you've driven one of these before?" Again with the force, he grabbed me and set me on the back of the bike claiming his spot behind the bars.

"If you rather drive, be my guest, but for now hold on tight and put your feet up on the foot pegs."

"You can't just-"

"I just did." He fired up the engine and I could feel it vibrate beneath me.

"Cole. Don't you dare." He pressed his first forward giving it throttle and the bike moved forward slowly.

"Cole, I'm not kidding." He pushed the kickstand up and it snapped into place. One foot up on his foot peg and a little more gas to get us going and he let out the clutch. The other foot up on and we began moving.

"Cole!" I had no choice but to hold on to him, and did I ever, I flung my torso against his back and tightened my arms against his rock hard abs. Placing my head on his back I closed my eyes. I could still feel every twist and turn of the powerful machine, with every movement graceful and confident.

I eventually gained courage and opened one eye examining the scenery as we passed. We were entering a small town.

"Up there." I shouted, refusing to let go and point. Somehow he knew what I was referring to and angled the front tire in that direction. Up ahead was a local bar. We pulled into the parking lot, killing speed and the engine clicked off.

"I hate you and if you ever do that again I will kick your balls up into your throat." He smiled.

"You sure do have a tight grip!"

"I told you, I don't trust you so that's what you get."

"I wasn't complaining." I rolled my eyes which were starting to hurt from doing that so much, but followed him inside the bar. I immediately spotted my favourite drink, amoretto. I grabbed the bottle and swallowed several sips of the syrupy, sweet alcohol.

"Wow, getting drunk already?"

"Clearly I have to in order to put up with you." I twisted the cap back on and put the bottle back in the backpack.

"Seriously? You're gonna bring it?"

"Why not?"

"Once again, not complaining, actually, I admire the way you think." He reached for a bottle of moonshine whisky and handed it to me.

"Take a swig of that. Don't chug it like you were the amaretto." I did. A swig of the nastiest tasting alcohol I had ever had, and that something considering I hated beer with a fiery passion. I spat the gross liquid onto the floor and scrunched up my face.

"That was nasty!" Cole laughed at me and took a swig of the open bottle. He swallowed and it made me cringe.

"You're cute." He screwed the cap back on and patted my head.

"Stop saying that, and don't touch me." He walked behind the front counter and began searching for what I assumed was a gun.

"A minute ago, you couldn't take your hand off me."

"That's because you were flying down the road." He took another sip and gathered the pistol in his hand, setting the bottle on the counter and releasing the clip from the gun to check how much ammo there was.

"Nice." I said as he pulled two boxes full of ammo from under the counter.

"Catch." He threw the boxes at me to put in the backpack. Taking one last sip of whiskey, he exhaled and handed me the bottle to put in the backpack.

"Your breathe smells disgusting."

"Like whiskey?"

"Yeah, not to mention I hate when people breathe on me." He smiled at my annoyance and walked behind me as I zipped up the backpack. He grabbed my waist from behind pulled me into him and breathed on the back of my neck. I broke free and slapped him in the face.

"Don't breathe on me dammit." He rose his hand to his stinging face and grinned.

"You continue to amaze me."

"Let's go." I exited the bar and returned to the bike. "I'm only going on here because it's faster than walking."

"Sure you are, like I said, you can't keep your hands off me." We got on the bike and continued down the road. As I suspected earlier, the no so subtle roar of the engine began to attract a swarm of zombies.

"Cole!" I said pointing in the direction of three zombies moving our way. He pinned the throttle and lost them in seconds. However, the sound originating from our bike continued to summon the dead.

"Cole, pull over." To my surprise, he listened. Must have been a coincidence. Killing the motor he pulled the gun from his jeans and fired six clean shots that hit the slow moving zombies square in the head. My eyes widened. He looked down at me, still sitting on the back of the motionless bike.

"I told you I might surprise you."

"That wasn't that impressive."

"Really? Let's make this a game. Whoever kills the most bastards wins."

"You're the one with the gun."

"Well then, we'll find you one too." He stated, pointing to the gun store across the street.

"Nice find."

"If you were the observant type, you would have seen it too." Nice, quoting me. Entering the store, guns were enclosed in glass cabinets for display. I looked around the room. There were big guns, little guns, tactical guns, hunting guns, black guns and pink guns. Pathetic.

"That one." I demanded pointing at a shotgun in one of the cabinets.

"Good choice." He smiled removing the clip from his pistol, a .45mm. He bashed the butt of his gun against the glass, shattering the transparent material on first try.

"Here you go, my lady." I took the gun in both my hands opening the receiver then closing it. I racked the gun and the familiar movement made me feel at home.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"My dad taught me how to shoot and hunt, I'm out of practice but I have a feeling by the end of this I won't be."

"Your dad had good taste." I walked over to the shelves behind the front counter and extracted four ammo boxes; three for my shotgun and one for Cole's pistol.

"You sticking to the pistol?"

"Yeah, light weight and easy to carry." He moved over to a display of hunting knives, and pulled out a fixed blade with rough serration. I reached in and grabbed a similar blade it was all black but serration mounted itself on the top of the knife as opposed to the sharp edge of the blade.

"All right Rambo, you ready?" I snickered to myself, put the knife in its sheath, clipped it on my belt and followed Cole outside.

"Fifteen minutes." Barked the loud speaker mounted behind us on the brick wall of the store.

"Cole, we better hurry up."

"Sure thing." He pointed at the end of the road in the distance. "It's about a mile of straight driving, hop on." The exit lay at the end of the road in the distance. I had learned to trust Cole, well, his driving at least and I relaxed myself onto the back of the bike.


End file.
